


kill-or-cure

by CancerianWastelandCat



Series: [ VENOM ] [7]
Category: the GazettE
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Blood Drinking, Blood Magic, Fantasy, Hybrids, Kinda Sci-Fi AU, M/M, Magic, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Royalty, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 15:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19321039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CancerianWastelandCat/pseuds/CancerianWastelandCat
Summary: As Yuu threatens to break, Kouyou is willing to do anything.





	kill-or-cure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mittilla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mittilla/gifts), [hedoro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hedoro/gifts), [takachan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/takachan/gifts), [ragball](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragball/gifts).



> Gifting this to the 4 people who really helped me with developing this part <3 You're all amazing. Thank you for your neverending support.
> 
> [Click here](https://twitter.com/banana_nashi_/status/1259401787221532672) to find HD-rendered images as well as a link to a 720° virtual tour of Aoi & Uru's apartment.

By the time Kouyou burst through the door, his blood was boiling with fear.  

He counted five, six, seven heads that shot up upon his arrival, the owners none of which he knew. They stared at him like they had seen a ghost and really, judging from their looks they had probably never stooped low enough to converse with Eternals any less than pure-blooded. Kouyou, though, was unfazed. He didn’t even bother introducing himself, the touch of a hand to his lower back telling him Suzuki had caught up.

Kouyou gulped as he stepped forward. These people weren’t moving an inch, standing like rooted in safe distance to the bedroom, and he couldn’t help but remember the professor’s words. Were they all afraid? Had something like this happened before and they all knew what Yuu was capable of in this state? Kouyou wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know. Then, right on cue before he could open his mouth to ask how Yuu was doing, the deafening noise of splintering wood followed by the sound of bursting glass had all of them collectively jumping.

After watching how three of the men turned to each other, whispering and gesticulating while the other four went even paler than prior, Kouyou glanced over his shoulder for guidance. His expression must have been perfectly readable. Suzuki gave him a reassuring smile and a nod.

“He won’t hurt you, trust me,” he said and Kouyou was sure he meant well, but it did nothing to calm his racing heart. Still, he had to do his best to remain level-headed now. Yuu needed him.

Kouyou cleared his throat and bridged the remaining distance. With his grip firm around the handle of the door, he took a deep breath and slid it open carefully. The subtle murmur behind him stopped abruptly. And Kouyou couldn’t blame them. He hadn’t opened the door much but it was enough to reveal the absolute chaos Yuu had made of their bedroom.  
  
And not only that. _There was no colour._ The entire room, every little crevice from floor to ceiling, was like tinted in grayscale. Kouyou couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Soon however, he realized that this wasn’t meant for outside eyes. From somewhere deep inside, Kouyou just knew this was too intimate of a moment, that it was supposed to be between him and Yuu only. It wasn’t _anybody’s_ right to see the prince like this; grieving and utterly out of control.

And the sight did scare him. It scared _the hell_ out of him. Closing the door softly behind himself, Kouyou allowed silence to settle for the couple moments that it took him to take everything in.

Everything that had been white previously had lost its sheen. The left one of the front bed posts, black now instead of the mahogany Kouyou knew it to be, was broken in the middle as if a fist had been hit through, sharp splinters of wood sticking out. Most of them were scattered all over the equally black floor and the bed sheets, which were of a muted gray. What the hell was going on here? The nightstand on Kouyou's side was even missing its lamp! It wasn't anywhere to be seen but Kouyou found it was of no importance for the time being. His eyes travelled further, from the bed over the shards of glass on the floor to the ripped curtains, dark grey in colour, and the fractured window. Lastly, and this was the weirdest contrast Kouyou had ever seen, Yuu's figure standing before it was the exact opposite of his very surroundings. His dress shirt was of a bright light blue, tugged out of his pants, the fabric ripped and frayed in some spots along his forearms and the stripe that went down the side of his pants flashed in a rich gold beneath the pale sun rays.

The longer he looked, the more Kouyou felt anguish mix in with his fear. He was incapable of wrapping his mind around any of this. He didn’t know how, but Yuu had quite literally sucked the life out of everything around him. Was there really anything he could do? Was this Yuu’s true nature?

Every fibre in his body urged Kouyou to approach the prince and his bloody knuckles, but the sound of burbling water drew him towards the bathroom first. Upon reaching the door Kouyou full-stopped, and he gasped. Not only had the colourlessness spread all the way to here, the beautiful shower he'd indulged in just this morning—both its glass walls were completely shattered, looking like they had never even been there. Sparkling drably like a thousand tiny stars, their remains covered the black tiled floor and made it a difficult task for Kouyou to reach the sink. He had to though, or otherwise the thing was going to overflow and flood the floor. Where had Yuu found the strength to cause this much devastation? Kouyou couldn’t even fathom how deep his pain had to be running.

Some glass shards he couldn’t avoid after all, and they crunched beneath his feet as he tiptoed through the mess. After closing the faucet, Kouyou turned back around, glad to notice that Yuu had at least left the rest of the bathroom untouched. This had him with just one place left to go. When he returned to the bedroom, the sight hadn’t changed; but it hurt even more than before. Yuu was still standing by the window, like a touch of vividness in the midst of death.

Kouyou couldn’t see his face, strands of hair were falling into it, but there was something about him… something eerily calm that had Kouyou stopping again right by the bedpost. He licked his lips, swallowed.

“Yuu?”

The silence was oppressing. Yuu showed no signs that he had even heard him. In fact, he didn’t even look like he was mentally present. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe this was how he dealt with emotional turmoil. Did he just _shut off?_  Kouyou couldn’t leave it at that. Ugly scratches and cuts spread across Yuu’s underarms and while he was sure the wounds beneath the drying blood had long started closing, they still needed to be tended to, right? Kouyou found himself unable to ignore the longing feeling in his chest any longer so he took a step forward, carefully extending his hand towards the prince.

Before he could even reach remotely close enough however, his fingertips bounced against _literal_ lightning. Kouyou gasped, yanking his hand back reflexively. Right where it had been just a second ago, little black bolts cracked through the air, sizzling before trailing off along an invisible wall. Incredulously, Kouyou stared at his hand. Heat spread across his fingertips. It pinched the skin where burn marks had appeared and Kouyou watched how they slowly vanished again, the Eternal side of him healing them just like the cuts on Yuu’s arms had probably done. It hadn’t even hurt.

Kouyou gulped. At the thought that Yuu’s aura didn’t even let his _Ateor_ step closer, he felt his fear crawling from his blood deep into his bones. What was he supposed to do? When he tried to reach out again, the lightning bolts returned and hissed angrily, and Yuu was still unmoving. A cold breeze rushed in through the broken window. Small shards of glass crumbled off the window frame at the bottom where Yuu’s hands were resting, his knuckles white from how tight he was gripping the wood, and a few strands of hair danced loosely around his face. Still, Kouyou saw nothing. It was almost like he simply wasn’t _meant_ to see, like Yuu’s deepest core was preventing anyone from witnessing his true emotions. But Kouyou was the only one able to help, wasn’t he? How?

He gazed around. _Think Kouyou, think._ Suzuki was still on the other side of the door and even though Kouyou was sure the professor would know what to do, leaving the room felt like too much of a risk. Even as much as lifting his voice beyond a whisper did so. Damn it.  
  
When his gaze fell upon his backpack, dropped right by the door, an idea finally struck his mind. Oh, a _good_ idea at that! Kouyou jumped for it and quickly  rummaged through it on search for his phone. Surely Takanori knew what to do, too. He was an Eternal _and_ a physician, he just had to.  
  
Kouyou's fingers were shaking as he opened his friend's chat and typed a message. Panic began to constrict his throat. What if he couldn't do anything after all?  
  
**Kouyou, 8:21am**  
_Taka I need help QUICKLY!!_  
  
He hit send and waited for an endless twenty seconds to pass until the speech bubble on Takanori's side popped up on the screen.  
**  
** **Taka, 8:21am**  
_?? What's going on? Shouldn't you be in class?_  
  
Kouyou almost scoffed at that. Trust Takanori to play mother at the most inopportune times.  
  
**Kouyou, 8:22am**  
_Something happened to Yuu and I don't know what to do, I'm all alone with him but he's entirely shut down or something, I can't get through to him_  
**  
** **Kouyou, 8:22am**  
_I'm scared_  
  
After that, Kouyou’s eyes darted up. Yuu was still a statue. Then his phone vibrated with a reply and he winced, turning back to it.    
  
**Taka, 8:22am**  
_What do you mean exactly by shut down?_  
  
Kouyou stared, dumbfounded for a second before his fingers flew across the keyboard. His vision threatened to blurr.  
  
**Kouyou, 8:22am**  
_Shut down means shut down, Taka!! Our entire bedroom is black and white!! All the colour gone!! And all the furniture is demolished but he's not doing anything!! He's just standing by the window, I don't even think he's registered that I'm here, I don't know what to do, I don't want him to hurt.. But his aura won't let me get close_

The tears were coming indeed. Kouyou swallowed the lump down as hard as he could and looked up once again. For a short moment there he thought he'd seen lightning lick directly at Yuu's clothes but it was gone when he blinked. Kouyou shook his head. If his mind started to play tricks on him now…

 **Taka, 8:23am  
** _Okay calm down. Give me a minute, I'll think of something._

A minute? A minute was too long. Anything could happen in a minute. Kouyou groaned and got up from his crouching position. Regardless, he had to wait. Takanori was a professional and if Kouyou was only patient enough he would come up with something to do. Right?

Roughing a hand through his hair, Kouyou decided to approach the prince one more time.

“Yuu,” he murmured, but again he received no answer. When he stretched out his hand, the air cracked just like earlier, lightning marred his skin, but Kouyou refused to give in. Instead he moved forward all the way until the black bolts were growing in size and their attack on his wrist induced such a sudden tremor of pain in him that it forced him to withdraw. He gazed at the dark red stripes stretching across his palm and the back of his hand. It took considerably longer for them to heal and fade away. A soft prickling feeling was still lingering on Kouyou's skin by the time his phone vibrated.

He blinked himself out of his devastating thoughts and hurriedly opened the chat.

 **Taka, 08:25am  
** _Alright, I think I've figured it out. I don't know what happened but it seems to have struck him pretty badly so his system is starting to break down. You have to try and GROUND him. Do you have something sharp around?_

Under any other circumstance, Kouyou would've more than frowned at that question. What did something sharp have to do with ‘grounding’ Yuu? But now he understood within the blink of an eye; because the majority of Yuu, the part that made him who he was, that occupied most of his soul and his being, was still vampiric.

 **Kouyou, 08:25am  
** _There's glass shards all over the floor, should I cut at the wrist?_

 **Taka, 08:26am**  
_No!! That's way too much blood, where were you in biology?? Just make a small scratch in your palm, the smell of it should be enough for him to pick up and his aura to let you in. He might need to feed later but you have to get him back first. His system won't stabilise right away so just try and get him to lie down so he can sleep off the first wave. And he might stop breathing but it'll be fine so don't freak out._

Kouyou's eyes shot wide open. _Stop breathing?_ How the hell was he supposed to not freak out at the sound of that? Then again, the entire situation was worth a freak-out and Kouyou still showed no single sign of hesitation to do what had to be done. At this point his brain felt so flooded with thoughts and impressions and emotions that he was convinced the only thing keeping him on his feet was Yuu's venom spurring him on. Kouyou grit his teeth and tossed his phone on the bed. He couldn't let Yuu down.

Steady hands reached for the nearest shard of glass. Kouyou stood bravely in front of where the lightning had scratched him, his heart racing up into his throat. He swallowed, looked at the sharp piece in his right hand. It was cool and smooth to his touch, a featherweight. Just a scratch was going to be enough. Kouyou’s fingers tightened around the jagged edge of it and after one last look at Yuu, he lifted his left hand in front of his face. Just a scratch.

The skin of his palm ripped open slowly. Kouyou hissed as the glass dragged through his flesh, away from the base of his forefinger. Blood pooled out. It trickled down to the middle of his palm, leaving an intense coppery smell to waft up into his nose. Kouyou cringed. If the scent was this overwhelming for his hybrid senses alone, it _had_ to get through to Yuu. He let the shard drop to the floor and took a couple of deep breaths. Everything in his might worked to suppress the tremor that yearned to shake his whole body. When his hand connected flat with Yuu’s aura, lightning whooshed across his skin again but Kouyou could _see_ that it wasn’t doing any harm this time around. No, quite the contrary. Instead of pain, he felt something like a silky caress, like the bolts were being gentle in their journey across his palm, aiming for the blood that had started dribbling down towards his wrist. They fizzled and spit, as though pleased with the offer and then Kouyou held his breath as it happened.

The lightning spluttered into tiny explosions coloured like the morning sky outside and with a soft noise akin to a candle blown out, Yuu’s aura began to retreat at last, drawing back like a crystalline blanket. The prince visibly shuddered as it nestled back against his body, melting into him.

Kouyou made a step forward and a sigh of relief left him when there was no obstacle. His lips even curled into the tiniest of a smile.

“Yuu,” he breathed out, extending his hand but cautiously so. He’d almost made it through but quick movements would possibly only scare Yuu and he couldn’t risk-

The second Kouyou’s fingertips connected with his shoulder, Yuu collapsed. The muscles in his arms slacked, his legs gave in abruptly and he was slumping to the ground like a tense rope cut in half. Kouyou saw it all occur in slow motion right before his eyes but it happened so fast he couldn’t even hold in the shocked yelp escaping him. He jackknifed forward, looping his arm around Yuu’s torso just in time but his weight forced Kouyou to his knees. Gasping and with his free hand planted against the wall for support, he stared. For everything he hadn’t seen earlier, he saw it all twice as clearly now. Yuu’s face was mere inches away. And he was panting as if he had never tasted air before.

Kouyou’s heart ached as Yuu wheezed breaths that were way too human for him, through lips that were parted and shaking. On his forehead glistened pearls of sweat, glueing wisps of damp hair to his marble skin. His eyes went nowhere. They were wide open but whether they were void of emotion or filled to the brim Kouyou couldn't tell. Perhaps it was both. Either way, he knew they couldn't stay like this. With every passing moment, Yuu began to look more and more like he was sinking into a fever attack and a very imminent sense of danger overcame Kouyou with that realization. This was just the first wave, Takanori had said. If he didn't get Yuu to lie down and relax, what was going to happen? Were there things worse than this? Kouyou refused to find out. Swallowing his uncertainty down in his throat, he slowly shifted his weight from one leg to the other.  
  
"Yuu," he pressed out. "Let's try to get up, okay? Come on. I'm right here."

As expected, there was no sign as to whether Yuu had heard him or not but Kouyou had to push through. Even though he was aware now that it didn't do anything, he kept on whispering reassurances while he slipped his arm more firmly around Yuu and slowly began to push them upwards. The cut in his palm burned like hell as it brushed over Yuu's shirt, smearing blood across the fabric. Kouyou’s jaw tensed. After managing to turn them around, he struggled to move forward. Half of Yuu’s body weighed down on his back and he felt like any moment now they were going to stumble over their own limbs. The smithereens of glass crunched beneath their feet, the sound loud like a heavy echo of their helplessness. Kouyou held onto Yuu for dear life so that he wouldn’t drop him but his own pain was starting to overwhelm him. And it wasn’t even physical. Yuu’s hot breath continued to fan out right next to his ear and it sounded so tormented Kouyou could barely handle it. The constant awareness of his inability to help, to make it go away _right now_ tore aggressively at his heart. If only he’d been _more_ of an Eternal, perhaps that would’ve made a difference.

For a moment Kouyou had to squeeze his eyes shut tightly to keep his tears at bay.

Ultimately, he’d succeeded in dragging themselves around the bed and with cautious hands, he turned Yuu around and sat him down on the edge.

“You’ll feel better in just a bit, Yuu, okay?” he said while he picked splinters of wood off the still gray blanket. Ever since reading Takanori’s message Kouyou had had it at the back of his mind—the other thing he had to do. It was inevitable. A barely noticeable tremor had settled within his hands again, one of them still bloodied, but he didn’t let it stop him from opening the buttons on Yuu’s shirt. The prince sat unmoving like a puppet until it was Kouyou’s direct touch that elicited a response out of him.  

When Kouyou's hands slipped beneath the shirt to brush it off his shoulders, Yuu's panting came to a sudden stop and he drew in one big breath, the exhale of which left him shivering. Kouyou stood still for a second, tensed up as he waited to see if there was something else coming, but there wasn’t. The heaviness of Yuu’s breathing was all that had changed, slower now but still worrisome.

The shirt met the floor. Kouyou tried not to get his bloody palm too close to Yuu’s face just yet while he laid him down, which simply felt like the appropriate thing to do, out of whatever instinct. Though considering what he was going to do next it had probably been unnecessary. Yuu’s head sank into the pillows and his eyes fell close. At this point, Kouyou needed to take a moment to breathe. He draped the blanket over Yuu, then sat down by the foot end of the bed.

His brain was droning with chaos. Did he understand what was going on? Sort of, but did it make any _sense_? Kouyou rubbed his fingers against his temples. Closing his eyes, he tried to bring order into his thoughts.

Yuu's mother was dead. An illness maybe, or worse? Now, Yuu was … sick. He found no other way to word it. Gone off the net, so to speak. And Kouyou was the only one able to break through the protective shield his aura built around him in situations like these. Kouyou had done exactly what Takanori had told him to; Yuu was lying down. It did almost look like he was sleeping by now but Kouyou could tell by the rise and fall of his abdomen that his breathing hadn't calmed down entirely yet. Kouyou's gaze twitched, threatening to wander across muscles and taut flesh, but he knew very well this wasn't the moment for it. He had to keep going.

Kouyou rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth and got up. Yuu was going to feed and he was going to sleep, and he was going to _be fine._

Kouyou made the few steps around the bed, peeled off his uniform jacket and rolled up his right sleeve. Then he stood still again, unsure of how to approach the situation. Surely Eternals had rules or there was some sort of standard procedure to how they fed off whom and when and where, if at all, but Kouyou didn't know any of that. And even if he had, he probably wouldn't have cared for them right now. It wasn't like there was much that he could do wrong. He shoved his blanket out of the way and climbed back onto the bed, the mattress dipping beneath his knees. He gulped. What he wanted to do had seemed rather simple in his mind's eye just a minute ago but now…

Yuu winced when Kouyou slipped his left arm underneath his head and his eyelids fluttered open again. He looked terribly exhausted and Kouyou cringed apologetically.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered as he tilted Yuu's head to an angle that would help him with swallowing. “But you have to eat, alright?”

His fingers curled into a light fist, Kouyou presented his forearm. He had no idea if it was correct to just put it right beneath Yuu's nose like this but it seemed … logical.

“Hey Yuu, come on,” he encouraged softly. “It’s okay.”

Kouyou waited for the longest time until there was some sort of reaction. Yuu inhaled. His nasal wings billowed as he undoubtedly sucked in the scent of Kouyou’s blood and Kouyou honest to god thought he could _hear_ Yuu’s hunger coming to life. A rumble so low it was hardly audible vibrated within the prince’s chest with every puff of breath that left him. Kouyou didn’t waver. No matter how painful it was going to be, he couldn’t. Yuu’s apathetic gaze cleared up from the fog that had clouded it and its deep, rich blackness flooded Kouyou with sheer awe.

He had never seen an Eternal feed before. And the amount of times in his life that he had experienced the lust for blood himself he could count on one hand. Kouyou had never seen _real_ hunger. Not until now. Yuu's eyes were full of it; focused on nothing else but the slim blue veins right before them.

Kouyou gulped again, and he slid closer until his knees almost bumped against the side of Yuu’s body.

“It’s okay,” he repeated softly.

Yuu leaned in. The tip of his nose touched against Kouyou’s wrist and wandered along his arm, slowly like he was on the search for the perfect position, the strongest flow, the lushest taste. When it paused, Kouyou’s breath hitched. Yuu had chosen a spot about an inch beneath the crook of his arm, pressing his lips against it almost gently. All the little hairs on Kouyou’s skin stood at the coldness of his kiss and even more so when Yuu’s lips eventually parted. His teeth emerged, harmless-looking still, but then they elongated _in real time_ and Kouyou sensed that his heart was going to skip a beat at the sight. Yuu’s fangs protruded from his upper and a bit smaller from the lower jaw, bright white, pointy and undeniably razor-sharp.  

Kouyou had never seen an Eternal feed before. He barely even remembered how it had felt the night he’d been poisoned. He had no comparison, no knowledge of what to expect. Despite that, he tried to brace himself. But Yuu didn’t move. His fangs were close enough to scratch the skin, ready to assault, but he was hesitating. Why was he hesitating? Was he afraid of hurting Kouyou? Kouyou’s gut churned at the thought, and he sighed softly before he buried his nose into Yuu’s hair in a gesture of comfort.

“Yuu,” he cooed, placing a kiss against the prince’s head. “Yuu, it’s fine.”

Yuu’s breath began to stutter. He pulled back, then opened his mouth wider, came closer. Kouyou closed his eyes.

“It’s alright. Drink.”

Yuu bit into him, and the pain was excruciating.

It wasn't like in the movies or novels. At all. It wasn't a tender nip into his skin and it wasn't putting him into a daze or inducing any sort of pleasure either. No, Yuu was ripping through his flesh way too brutally for it to be pleasurable. Kouyou's blood came gushing across his tongue, tingling a moan out from deep within his chest. But Kouyou was incapable of focusing on anything but the pain. 

It was like an immense pressure weighing on his ribcage, mind-numbing almost as though someone was squashing his arm with a brick. Tears shoved into Kouyou's eyes and they fell in spite of how tightly he'd closed them. He gasped for his lungs to fill with air but it didn't help.  
  
An eerie shiver began trickling down his nape like single drops of mud. The noises—canines wrenching deeper through flesh, Yuu gulping down mouthful after mouthful of his blood—suddenly seemed _so_ loud in the silence of their bedroom. Kouyou's heart thrummed in his eardrums for what felt like hours, pounding adrenaline through his veins and his muscles began to ache from keeping his arm up. As if he'd sensed it, Yuu's hands came up, embracing it. And while Kouyou could use the short moment as Yuu withdrew, the wave of pain struck him all over again when his teeth dug in a second time.

It was worse now. Yuu had very much missed the punctures of his first bite, piercing the skin all anew with a nasty squelching sound. He moaned in relish, like a starved man tasting water after two years of draught. But Kouyou’s lungs convulsed and an agonized sob forced its way out. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Suzuki’s voice but his words were muffled through the wooden door.

Whatever they had been, Yuu seemed to have heard them too because his fangs broke free soon after. When Kouyou blinked his eyes open, tears trickled down his cheeks and blood was dripping down his arm in thick lines. Limply, it dropped to Yuu's chest.

Kouyou managed to pull out his other arm from beneath Yuu's head but noticed soon enough that putting pressure on the injured one was impossible. Sliding back to the edge of the bed, he watched how Yuu sank back into the pillows with a sigh and blood-smeared lips, drifting off right away. His chest rose and fell slowly, regularly. Kouyou huffed in relief. _It worked._

Suzuki was calling again. Kouyou understood it this time, _are you doing okay?_ , but he couldn't gather the strength to yell an answer. He tumbled off the bed instead, staining the gray bed sheets with traces of blood, and gradually made his way over to the door. Left with no other choice, he grabbed the handle with his injured hand. The cut burned angrily again but Kouyou pressed his eyes shut and grit his teeth, sliding the door open.

The sound of a chair scraping across tiled floor reached him instantly.

“Kouyou?”

“It’s fine,” Kouyou breathed out, closed the door (with difficulty so) and leaned against it. “He’s fine.”

He closed his eyes. His vision was starting to dull again. The last thing he saw before soothing darkness closed in on him were two blurry silhouettes heading towards him. Had all the others left then? How long had he been in there with Yuu?

“We’re more concerned about you at the moment,” Suzuki answered softly and Kouyou’s lips twitched into a weak smile. He swallowed past the dryness in his throat.

“I just need a moment. I’m okay, don’t worry.”

“Kouyou, you’re dripping blood on the floor.”

Wait, when had Takanori gotten here?

“I need a first-aid kit. _Now.”_

Yeah, that was definitely him. Had he dropped everything to come here and help after Kouyou’s messages? Kouyou’s heart warmed at the mere thought of it, even though he wasn't quite able to conjure up the mental image of his best friend fighting off the guardian at the elevator.

“Let’s get him sat down first,” Suzuki said then and soon after, a hand carefully touched against Kouyou’s upper arm. He took in a deep breath and blinked his eyes open until he could see more or less clearly. The two men’s edges still looked fuzzy but it would have to make do.

Suzuki led him over to the couches where Takanori was already getting rid of the pillows, tossing them to the ground one after the other.

“The cut will be okay, I need to treat the bite first,” he stated.

Kouyou's vision swam as he sank down on the couch. Takanori sat down next to him right afterwards. Everything was going so quickly...

“I need something to stop the bleeding,” he said, nodding towards the first aid case once a maid had placed it on the glass table (wherever _she_ had come from). “Open this.”

Suzuki walked around the couch, opened the case and picked out a pile of cotton pads which he handed over to Takanori.

“How bad is it?”

“Bad. He wasn't being gentle, that's for sure.”

“I told him it's okay,” Kouyou managed to chime in, not quite understanding why they were reproaching Yuu with that, but neither of them answered. Kouyou coughed, instantly regretting the glance he'd thrown at his arm. It lay propped up on Takanori's thigh but it looked _nasty._ Kouyou quickly looked somewhere else. The scent of his own blood was starting to disgust him more and more the longer he tried not to focus on it, as if Yuu's bite had tossed his sense of smell way beyond its usual capabilities.

Either way, Kouyou couldn't stand looking at the wound. Leaning his head back and to the opposite side, he met Suzuki’s worried eyes. The professor stood further away from them, by the side of the other couch, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Kouyou wondered whether perhaps the smell of fresh blood was getting to him in some other way but when he blinked, Suzuki’s expression was a different, much softer one. He'd probably just imagined it.

“We'll take care of the rest, Kouyou,” he assured with a smile. “You don't have to worry about it.”

Kouyou gazed at him silently for a moment, wondering what the hell _the rest_ was supposed to be. What else was there to take care of? Yuu was fine, wasn't he?

“What do you mean?” he asked, though his voice sounded weirdly off in his own ears; strangely calm and like he was listening to it through some sort of tunnel. Suzuki shifted from one foot to the other.

“Well, judging from those noises earlier, quite a few things … broke. It has to be cleaned up and repaired.”

Kouyou didn't understand a word Suzuki was saying. If they wanted to clean up, they would have to let someone into Yuu's bedroom, right? But that wasn't possible, was it? Nobody other than the prince himself and Kouyou were allowed in there. He swallowed.

“I can do it myself,” he said. He wasn't going to break the most important rule of Yuu's privacy just for _cleaning staff._ “Yuu needs rest, I don't want anyone disturbing him.”

Suzuki sucked in a breath. He looked unsure, and so did Kouyou feel on the inside as well. Without any idea where it was coming from, he sensed another mild panic rising within his chest. The need to defend Yuu and the urge to protect him were scratching his vocal chords and itching beneath every centimeter of his skin. The professor's gaze jumped towards Takanori.

“Kouyou… I don't think you're in any condition to do that kind of work. It'd be easier if someone cou- ”

_“No! No one is going in there! Leave him alone!”_

Behind him, glass burst and Kouyou startled at the sound of an anxious whimper. He twirled around, stared at the maid standing by the kitchen isle. Shards of glass lay in a puddle of water to her feet and the silver tray in her hand was trembling dangerously. It too clattered to the floor as soon as she caught sight of the bite in his arm. Kouyou looked down at himself.

He was standing on his feet and his chest was heaving. Why was he standing? When had he gotten up? He looked around. Suzuki was ogling him as if he'd never seen another person before, almost intimidated. Slowly but surely, as he returned Suzuki’s stare, realization began to seep into Kouyou's mind. He'd actually screamed. He had _yelled_ and scared the poor maid out of her mind in the process.

“I-I'm sorry,” he stammered. “I didn't mean to…”

He ran out of words, helplessly watching how the small woman bent down to gather the shards. Snapping at people wasn't like him at all, let alone yelling. What had gotten into him?

“Kouyou.”

A voice came from his other side, and Kouyou turned to meet Takanori's scrutinizing gaze. He was holding his hand out, motioning him to sit back down, but even in his befogged state Kouyou could tell that the look in Takanori's eyes was that of a medical professional who had yet to figure out what the hell was going on.

Kouyou gulped heavily and took the few steps back to the couch. Upon sitting down, his brain felt like it was wobbling from one side of his skull to the other, making his vision swim just like earlier. The cushion in his back and Takanori’s supporting hand on his arm only did so much to ease the daze.

“I’m sorry, Taka,” he repeated once he was seated and had his eyes closed again.

“It’s alright, don’t worry,” Takanori answered as he continued where he’d left off. “Your connection to Yuu is very fresh so everything’s … a little overwhelming for you at the moment.”

Kouyou only nodded in response and reclined his head onto the backrest. If he only kept his eyes closed and concentrated on his breathing, the dizziness was going to dissipate sooner or later. His skin burned like the sting of a bee once Takanori wiped cotton drenched in liquid along the margins of his wound but he had to endure it. Whether it took a minute or an hour until the most prominent pain had subsided after all, Kouyou couldn’t really tell.

“Bandage,” Takanori just ordered at one point and after Suzuki probably handed it to him, Kouyou felt the soft pressure of something getting wrapped around his arm.

“Can you try to move and bend it?” Takanori asked.

Kouyou opened his eyes. It needed a couple of blinks for his sight to become sharp again but then he looked down and saw half of his forearm swathed in clean white gauze, no traces left of the blood that had been smeared there before. After trying a few bending and turning movements, Kouyou nodded and Takanori gave him a comforting smile.

“You’ll have to try and not strain it too much the next couple days. It might take around one to two weeks to heal up entirely. Now give me your ha- ”

“Excuse me.”

All three of their heads spun around. Kouyou frowned at the tall woman that had appeared in the doorway. Her ash-colored hair was tied up into a tight ponytail and her arms looked like they were glued to her body with how stiff she held them. Another messenger? Kouyou definitely recognized the golden badge on her blue uniform.

“What is it?” Suzuki asked and stepped forward. As he glanced up at him, Kouyou noticed that the professor’s brows were furrowed as well, hands on his hips. The woman bowed deeply.

“His Majesty wishes to speak to the Ateor immediately.”

While Kouyou had no idea how to react, Takanori and Suzuki groaned in unison.

“Fuck,” Takanori cursed, then quickly cleared his throat and arose from the couch, roughing a hand through his hair. “Is His Majesty here?”

The woman nodded briefly. “I kindly ask you and Professor Suzuki to leave the room.”

What? Kouyou’s eyes flew back and forth between his friend and Suzuki. What was going on here? Yuu’s father was here?

“Taka, what…?”

Takanori hadn’t even started with the cut in his hand yet. There was still blood drying in his palm and his eyes and cheeks were reddened from crying. They couldn’t possibly make him face the king looking like this, could they?

“You’ll be fine, Kouyou,” Suzuki told him, making moves to leave but Kouyou jumped up from the sofa like a scalded cat.

“No no no _wait,_ what does he _want?_ I don’t even know what to say!” he exclaimed and he _knew_ that panic was written all over his face. How was he supposed to act appropriately towards his king if he hadn’t even managed to show proper etiquette with Yuu back when they had met? They couldn’t expect that of him! Or could they? He had learned a bit but was it enough? Kouyou didn’t have enough time to think it all through. Takanori grabbed his hands, redirecting his attention away from the fear.

“You’ll be fine, Kou,” he repeated. “We must not let him wait, that’s why we have to go but you’ll be alright. Bow when he enters. Don’t ever forget his title, don't look him in the eyes. And just… be polite.”

Kouyou took a deep breath like he was sucking in every little piece of information. He swallowed and tried to concentrate but he couldn’t let his friend’s hand go just yet. Takanori made a step towards the door, then turned again and gave his hand a squeeze. The look in his eyes was weirdly unreadable.

“And don’t let him intimidate you.”

With that, both him and the professor hurried out of the apartment and Kouyou was left in silence. The messenger stood frozen by the door, her gaze straightforward and empty like a soldier’s. Kouyou felt terribly like he was all dressed up and with nowhere to go. Nervously, he brushed a sweaty strand of hair out of his forehead and wiped the back of his hand across his thigh. It was way too quiet in here, and he simply couldn’t stand still. Though just as he leaned down to pick up one of the cotton pads to rub the blood off his left arm _,_ the big oak door behind him swung open once again.

The king was an old, old man. His true age was said to be hiding somewhere in the Seventhousands, which was _very_ odd knowledge considering his outward appearance. Clad in a sleek, black coat that reached all the way to his ankles, with his chiseled jaw and only a few white strands in his otherwise pitchblack hair (that he had definitely handed on to his son), the man looked like he was barely touching upon fifty. Kouyou didn’t know what he had expected but it wasn’t this. A tall man in golden armor with a cape and a sword on his hip wouldn’t have induced as much of this bone-chilling dread in him as he felt right now. He bowed before Yuu’s father before their eyes had any possibilities to meet.

“It’s an honor, Your Majesty,” he spoke as clearly as possible. However, a scoff wasn’t exactly the answer he had hoped for.

“Don’t bother,” the king snarled. He came strutting over with long, confident steps, only to head past Kouyou without giving him so much as a glance. Kouyou’s eyes widened and remained so for an unnatural amount of seconds. What? He hadn’t even completely turned around yet when the king was already speaking again. His voice was rough and cold like stone.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush, _Kouyou,_ ” he said, spitting Kouyou’s name out like bacteria. “I don’t approve of your relationship with my son but sadly, there’s nothing I can do about it. I don't care what he intends to do with you, whether you’re going to end up dead or just another one of his pastimes is of absolutely no concern to me.”  
  
Kouyou blinked. What… was happening? He wasn’t mishearing any of these things, was he? But there was no way the king was actually saying this to him. Was this what he had come for? Kouyou’s chest tightened with all kinds of seething emotions. His _wife,_ Yuu’s _mother,_ had passed away less than two hours  ago and he had nothing better to do than _this?_ Kouyou couldn’t believe it. As his hands curled into fists, his lungs heaved with an intake of breath.

“Your Majesty, with all due respect- ” he began but the man opposite him cut him off instantly, bridging the distance between them.

“I don't want your respect,” he spat. “All I want is your obedience. And most of all, I want your silence. Listen to me very closely.”

Within the blink of an eye, Kouyou found himself face to face with the king, quite literally, and out of pure shock he did exactly what Takanori had told him _not_ to do. His eyes pierced into the king’s so deeply he thought his heart was going to glaciate.

“My son,” the man continued, his breath hot and his words slow, warning and with a real, palpable danger in them, “is a lion. He is destined to do great things for our people and I will not tolerate your filthy blood tarnishing his achievements. If _any_ word of this,” he thrust his arm behind him to point at the bedroom door and Kouyou finally managed to look away, “goes out, if _anyone_ outside this apartment finds out how _weak_ he really is, I am going to hold you accountable for it. You know _nothing_ about our world, let alone are you ever going to belong to it. He was supposed to rule over all of you one day and now he can’t even give me a damn heir.”

Kouyou didn’t know what to do. The floor stared back up at him as if it was going to open up and swallow him whole and he honestly wished for nothing more. This was too much to process. Yuu and _weak?_ His shut-down had been a natural reaction out of the depths of his instincts and his father called it _weak?_ Was he not grieving?

 _Don't let him intimidate you,_ Takanori had said, like he was going to have a choice. But there was absolutely none. Had Takanori ever even met the king in person? Kouyou was terrified. And he wanted to slap himself so bad. He wanted to slap himself for the little bit of hope he had allowed himself to feel earlier. His help, the fact that he was the only one capable to pull Yuu out of his misery, meant nothing; to any of the people he had seen here before, probably. His dirty blood was forever going to overshadow any good deed.

“Do you even have any idea what realm of pureness you’re infiltrating with your presence here?”

Kouyou squeezed his eyes shut, his nails digging and scratching through the dried blood in his palm. He wished he would stop.

“Do you even know Yuu’s level?” the king went on questioning him, coming closer and closer but he obviously wasn’t keen on hearing anything Kouyou had to say.

“He’s a 96,9. Savor the sound of that. What are _you?”_

Kouyou’s breath stuttered at the height of that number. His father had never taught him about the particulars, about what the levels really meant or how they were attested. The only time he had seen his own was on a birth certificate upon applying to the academy and even then he hadn’t been sure what exactly it represented, nor had he cared much. But now that he knew what Eternals really were, it clicked inside his brain. The higher the percentage, the higher the concentration of vampire blood in one’s system. That was it, right? Kouyou shuddered at the thought.

96,9 was damn close to utter purity.

“What _are_ you?” the king demanded once again and his loud, booming voice snapped Kouyou back into reality.

He didn’t want to say it. There was nothing he wanted to hide more. Kouyou was well aware of what Yuu’s father was trying to do; that this was an attempt to make him feel unworthy of being here, of being treated politely, of Yuu himself and as much as he wanted to not let it get to him, Kouyou felt ashamed.

“50,3. Your Majesty,” he muttered just loud enough to hear. Although perhaps the king could read minds? Perhaps that was why he’d looked so smug all this time.

“Exactly,” he chuckled condescendingly. “A 50. A small, insignificant 50. _Defective,_ compared to my son. So should you ever stand in his way, I will make sure you won’t be standing anywhere anymore.”

Kouyou’s mouth opened in a futile attempt to defend himself, but his vocal chords failed him. He couldn't think of anything to retort to that anyway. The meaning of those words was dripping off them so obviously Kouyou could almost feel the hatred they carried burning him.

The king left Yuu’s apartment with a swoosh of his coat and the soft click of a closing door. Kouyou didn’t know what to do with himself. This had been a threat. There was no doubt about it, was there? The words kept ringing and ringing inside his mind. His life had just been threatened.

Kouyou sank down on the couch, defeated, once more engulfed by silence. Yuu’s returned breathing didn’t break it for a very, very long time.

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter was my favorite to write so far. Everything was super vivid and visual in my mind and I hope to God I did an okay job conveying that! Also sorry for Aoi's dad being such a HUGE asshole but.... someone has to be the villain, I guess (for now). Kudos and comments are never obligatory but always appreciated, so tell me your thoughts! Thank you for reading <3


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